


The Mysterious Girlfriend

by thebureauisclosed (insibbegerest)



Series: Acing High School [1]
Category: American Revolution RPF, Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Character, Asexuality, Coming Out, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Humor, M/M, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-28 03:13:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5075593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/insibbegerest/pseuds/thebureauisclosed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High School AU in which John Laurens is still in the closet and crushing on his best friend, Alexander Hamilton is out of the closet and crushing on his best friend and who the hell is Martha?! Also, Alexander's love for innuendos is getting out of hand, which doesn't make things any easier for poor John.<br/>Inspired by Hamilton's famous love letter to Laurens. You know, the "I love you, my nose is very long, I'm hotter than your wife" one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ace Awareness Week is ending and I just HAD TO write something on this wonderful occasion! I've been pretty much obsessed with Hamilton lately - what a surprise - so here have some Lams high school AU :) Kudos and comments would make me very happy, seeing as I'm quite self-conscious about my writing... :'D

(3:25) Ham_ster: Laurens

(3:25) Ham_ster: Laurensssss

(3: 25) Ham_ster: LAURENS

(3: 26) Ham_ster: We need to talk

(3: 27) Ham_ster: mAAAAAaaaAAAANNNnnnn

(5:40) JLo: what is it?

(5:41) JLo: sorry, wasn't home

(5:42) Ham_ster: Yeah, so I've heard

(5:42) JLo: what?

(5:43) Ham_ster: Which is exactly why we need to talk ;)

(5:45) JLo: what have you heard? and what's there to talk about?

(5:48) Ham_ster: Met your folks in the city today

(5:50) Ham_ster: They told me you were "out with your Martha"

(5:51) JLo: holy shit on a stick...

(5:52) Ham_ster: Who is that girl?? Why have you never told me about her before

(5:55) Ham_ster: Your mom claims you've been together for over a year

(5:56) Ham_ster: You've had a girlfriend for so long and haven't even mentioned her?? Why?

(5:58) Ham_ster: I mean, if YOU like her, she gotta be awesome

(6:04) JLo: ummm yeah well... she's great

(6:05) Ham_ster: That's it?

(6:16) Ham_ster: You there??

(6:24) JLo: sorry, gotta do some stuff now...

(6:26) JLo: see you tomorrow?

(6:27) Ham_ster: OK...

(6:30) Ham_ster: But don't think I'm letting this go!

 

* * *

 

"So," said Alexander while leaning against his locker, "I've been thinking... and I believe you should find me a girlfriend."

John Laurens, who was in the middle of taking his coat off, immediately stopped moving and possibly even breathing. What a comical sight he must have been, standing in the locker room with his coat half-hanging off his shoulders and looking at Alexander with a thoroughly puzzled expression.

"I should?" he said, after the shock had – more or less – worn off.

"You totally should!" Alexander nodded. "I mean, you're obviously very good at getting girlfriends, so why not help a friend out?"

"You don't need my help, girls love you," John pointed out. "Guys, too. Just wink at anyone in this school and they'll be yours in a heartbeat! I'm just waiting for the day when Eliza, Angelica and Lafayette fight to death in hopes of winning your love. Well, more like your bed in Lafayette's case, but... whatever, my point stands."

"And if I winked at you?" Alexander smirked, and continued talking before John could even get the chance to open his mouth, "Ah, wait, I'd almost forget about _Martha."_

John sighed, "Okay, I get it, I should have told you about her. It's just that... our relationship is kinda... complicated."

"I see," Alexander's grin widened, "friends with benefits?"

"No! Not that kind of complicated," said John quickly. "Anyway, what's so complicated about friends with benefits? You meet up, you bang, you leave. Sounds simple enough."

"Not if one of the two falls in love with the other," Alexander said. "Are you in love with Martha, by the way?"

"Well... She is my girlfriend."

"That wasn't the question, Johnny boy."

 John, staring intently at his shoelaces as though he was trying to untie them with the power of sheer will, muttered, "Look, could we discuss something else? As I've told you, it's pretty complicated and..."

Alexander raised his hands in defeat, "Fine, if we can't talk about your girlfriend, let's talk about mine."

"You don't have one."

"How do you know? Maybe I've been secretly seeing someone for months!"

" _Alex."_

"Sorry, man," Alexander smiled innocently. "You're right, I don't have one. Yet. But since I've promoted you to be my personal matchmaker, it's now your business to change that. As you know, I'm bi, so I don't actually care if it's a girl or a guy but other than that, I guess I can be picky a little. They should be smart, funny, nice, hot, tall, brown-eyed, dark-haired, loyal, open-minded..."

"Whoa there, Alex," John stopped Alex from spouting more requirements, "what's gonna be next? Their shoe size?"

"Mmm... Ten."

"My shoe size is ten."

"Really?" Alexander's eyes widened with surprise. "Wow, what a coincidence!"

John looked at him suspiciously, but didn't utter a sound. What was Alex on about this time? He'd gotten used to his best friend coming up with the craziest ideas – and usually, he had no problems with joining Alex in whatever mischief he had planned – but this was different. John groaned internally. This all must have been Alex punishing him for not saying a word about Martha. Now he probably thought that John didn't trust him, or didn't care about him enough to share what's going on in his life, or whatever other bullshit.

Truth be told, he and Martha weren't exactly together, not in the usual sense of the word. They got on well, but getting on well isn't reason enough to start dating a person, is it? Thing was, they didn't love each other but they _needed_ each other; to be precise, they needed each other's help.

Martha, however lovely she might be, wasn't really John's type. She was too... feminine for that. There. There's the heart of the matter – John Laurens, whose family happened to be very religious and, as far as he knew, not very accepting of same sex couples, had zero interest in women. A question presents itself – why would a gay boy want to find himself a girlfriend?

Plot twist number two – said girlfriend was a lesbian. Martha lived with her idiot of an uncle who made no secrets about what a raging homophobe he was. She and John became friends and after finding out about their shared difficulties, they've agreed on starting a pretended relationship. Martha's uncle liked to keep prying about his niece's love life and now she could finally shut him up by saying she'd got herself a boyfriend. Same applied to John, whose mother often felt sorry for her beloved son being "so alone". Now they would finally leave them be and stop with all that annoying nosiness and misplaced worry.

John hasn't told Alexander because... what would he tell him? That for all his vocal support of the LGBT+ community and his claims that no one should be ashamed of their identity, _he himself_ was... what exactly was he? He wouldn't use the word ashamed to describe his situation, he knew there was nothing wrong about liking men, and yet here he was keeping it a secret. He knew his friends would never judge him – Alex was bisexual and often participated in promoting LGBT rights and Lafayette was...well  not even Lafayette knew what Lafayette was, but _straight_ wouldn't cover it in a million years. About as straight as crinkle-cut french fries, perhaps.

So no, John wasn't afraid of his friends judging him. He was afraid of his parents' reaction and also, there were...

...other things. Things that he preferred not to dwell on too much because if he did, he might realize just how very fucked he was.

"What about Angelica?" John suggested. Not that he actually wanted Alex and Angelica to become an item, because... because... okay, he was a shitty friend, a shitty jealous friend with a major crush on Alex. That was the harsh reality. Anyway, Angelica should be a safe suggetion, John was absolutely sure that Alex didn't want her. She'd been staring at him with heart eyes for years and yet he has never shown the slightest hint of interest. If he liked her, he would've asked her out by now, right?

"Angelica's shoe size is ten?"

"I thought you were kidding about the shoe size."

"Yeah, I was. Kind of. But I don't like Angelica. I mean I do like her, she's cool and badass and all that, but I don't _like_ like her."

"Who do you like like, then?" John was almost afraid to ask. Sometimes it seemed like his feelings for Alex weren't one-sided, sometimes it seemed like they were and frankly, John couldn't decide which of these two options scared him more. If Alex was into someone else, it would hurt like motherfucker, but if he actually liked John... now that would open a whole new word of trouble.

First, Alex looked like he was going to say something, then he just shrugged. "Aaron Tveit, for example?"

"Dude, who in their right mind wouldn't like Aaron Tveit?"

"Good question," Alexander smirked. "Oh shit! I've just remembered Washington wanted to see me today. Something about that last history test we wrote. I guess my description of World World II was so sensational he wants to discuss it with me in person."

"Right," John snorted, "either that, or you totally fucked it up."

Alex clutched at his heart in mock horror, "Me? I never ever fuck up history tests! How can you even say something like that? You've wounded me deeply, my dear Laurens."

"I apologize profoundly, my dear Hamilton, and beg for your forgiveness."

Alexander winked, "Beg on your knees and I might consider it."

Right. Of course his awful best friend would torture him with sexual innuendo. "Maybe next time. Don't feel like getting my knees dirty."

Of course he had to be dumb enough to use the word _dirty_ and watch Alex give him a knowing grin. God knows what Alexander's, well, dirty mind just came up with. John didn't want to know. "Well then, stop lazing about and go see good ol' George, okay? You don't want the poor man to think you forgot about him."

Alex laughed, and wasn't that the most beautiful sight ever? Yeah, okay, there was no point in denying it anymore – John was truly Fucked with a capital F. "Sure, man. I'll text you later, alright?"

And with that, Alex turned and left. He marched in quick long steps with his head held high, as if the whole world belonged to him. John, for the billionth time that day, sighed, and finally shrugged off his coat properly. He fished his phone out of his pocket and opened his conversation with Lafayette.

To: Lafayette  
i need to get shitfaced tonight

From: Lafayette  
ur wish is my command!!! ;) ;)

To: Lafayette  
my place at 7?

From: Lafayette  
deal!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What I should be doing: studying for my upcoming law exam  
> What I am doing instead: writing fanfiction about the bloody founding fathers  
> (I think I need help)  
> (btw thank you for all your lovely comments, they've made my day <3)

"I'm like one hundred percent sure my message said 'I need to get shitfaced tonight', not 'I need to search through every pub in the city to finally find Lafayette who already happens to be spectacularly shitfaced and is in dire need of assistance'."

"What do you mean, in dire need of assistance? 'm fine," said Lafayette, lying on the floor and dressed only in his underwear.

John looked into a non-existing camera like he was on The Office. "How did you end up like this?"

"Wish I knew, buddy. Wish I knew."

John reached for Lafayette's wrist to help him back on his feet again.

Lafayette smiled gratefully, put his arm around John's shoulders and said, "The last thing I remember is Charles Lee telling me that I possibly _couldn't_ drink the rest of that bottle. So I said I'm not a fucking sissy like him and he dared me to prove it and... I think I did just that, but it's all kinda blurred."

"How did you lose your clothes?  Please tell me Lee had nothing to do with that."

"The hell if I remember! And where is Mulligan?"

"Ah, so not only you've lost your clothes, you've also lost Hercules."

"Gimme a minute, I'll fix that. MULLIGAAAAN!"

"You're not gonna fix it by hystericaly yelling his name."

"MULLIGAAAAN!"

Wasn't this just John's luck. All he'd wanted was to spend some quality drinking time with his friends and instead, he had to babysit a hammered half-naked Frenchman AND look for an equally hammered Irishman (who, John prayed, was wearing something normal), which he could really do without. Although... at least it would take his mind away from a certain Alexander Hamilton.

"MULLIGAAAAAAN!"

"LAFAYEEEEETTE!"

Ah, there he was.

As John had hoped, at least Hercules retained enough sobriety to keep his clothes on. He was holding beer in one hand and waving furiously at Lafayette with the other.

"MULLIGAAAAAAN!"

"LAFAYEEETTE!" Hercules couldn't take being apart from his friends anymore, even if 'apart' only translated to some ten meters in Mulligan-language, and ran towards them. John had to move out of his way so that instead of knocking him down, Hercules would end up in Lafayette's firm embrace.

"I missed you, bro," Hercules nearly sobbed into Lafayette's shoulder.

John rolled his eyes, made sure that Hercules was paying him no attention and stole... no, appropriated his beer. It wasn't like Hercules needed any more of it, judging from his behavior. John, on the other hand, was still too sober for this shit. Also, free beer was better than paid beer and much better than no beer.

As the last drop of the appropriated beer trickled down into his stomach, he decided he would leave Lafayette and Mulligan to their hugging for a while and order some whiskey to soothe his nerves. Then, he would lead his two stupid friends home and call it a night.

* * *

 

Or not.

One whiskey led to another beer which led to Hercules ordering some vodka which led to Lafayette showing off his breakdance skills which... somehow led to John waking up in his bed to the sound of his ringtone and having minimal recollection of any other details from last night.

John's body was currently wrapped up in several blankets like an overgrown burrito and his mind preoccupied with figuring out a way to answer his cellphone without leaving the warmth of his bed. What kind of creature would be cruel enough to call him at the ungodly hour of 10am? Fine, he guessed it wasn't that early, but still – everything seems early when you're sleepy and hungover.

He managed to grab his cell, almost falling out of the bed in the process – but as long as you achieve your goals, _almosts_ don't matter in the end, right? "Mmmmmhhmm?" he slurred, not even bothering to check who was calling.

"John? Hi," said a familiar feminine voice.

"Martha?"

"I'm sorry if I woke you up, I..."

John waved his hand; not that Martha could see him doing it, but... old habits and all that. "It's fine. Look, could you do something for me?"

"What?"

"Please, invent a time machine. Invent it, use it, go find yesterday-me and tell him not to drink."

"He would tell me to fuck off."

"What? I am – he is – we are not that rude!"

"He'd tell me to fuck off, except in nicer words."

"I guess so," John shrugged. "Sorry for interrupting you... Needed anything?"

"It can wait if you want to get more sleep after a hard day's night," Martha said, but from the way she spoke it was apparent it _couldn't_ actually wait.

"I can sleep later, now talk."

"Thanks. I'm sorry for being so impatient, but I just... I'm so nervous and so much has happened these past few days and I..."

"Hey, calm down, what's the matter?"

"I am breaking up with you," she blurted out.

Well. That wasn't what he expected.

"You're breaking up with me?" he repeated dully. "But we aren't actually together."

"Now we're not together at all, not even in the feed-your-parents-with-bullshit sense." Martha heaved a sigh. "I came out to my parents yesterday, they know now that  I lied about us."

This he expected even less. "Oh, that's... I... How did it go?"

She laughed. "Eh, could have gone better. They were all _I am sure you'll change your mind eventually, you are just confused_  and on and on and on. Good news is they didn't murder me or disinherit me, so there's that."

"...congrats,  I guess? But weren't you dead set on hiding it from them? I'm really confused right now."

"Well, I... it's... there's this girl."

It must have been a hell of a girl if Martha 'broke up' with him because of her. "Cool, do I know her?"

"Peggy Schuyler."

"How do the Schuyler sisters always end up falling in love with my friends?" John muttered under his breath.

"Sorry?"

"Oh, nothing. So, we are over now?"

"Yeah, I... shit, this is so awkward, I just... I hope your parents don't go back to bothering you about relationships and stuff and..."

John saved her from getting entangled in her own words by assuring her it was okay, wishing her luck with Peggy and hanging up.

* * *

 

He closed his eyes to nap for a bit, but it wasn't meant to be. First his ringtone, now the sound of someone banging on his door... He was hoping it would stop if he just ignored it and pretended he wasn't home or had died in his sleep or the like, but no, the banging got even louder.

Eventually, admitting defeat to himself, John crawled out of his bed and chanced a quick look in the mirror. Black circles under his eyes, tousled hair, old pajamas... he looked like death but couldn't find it in himself to give a shit.

Until he opened the cursed door and a perfectly groomed Alex Hamilton entered his line of sight.

"Good morning," said Alex, smiling widely. "Did you... oh damn, you look like shit."

"You always know how to make a friend feel better," John folded his arms. "What can I do for you?"

"Stop going to parties with Lafayette and Mulligan."

"How do you know I was with them?"

For once, Alexander stayed quiet and only replied with raising an eyebrow.

"...because I look like shit, that's how," John guessed.

"Exactly."

"Good. Anything else I can do for you, besides partying less?"

"I'm here because of the girlfriend thing," Alexander grinned.

What a beautiful Saturday morning this was turning out to be – John felt like shit, according to Alex also looked like shit (and isn't that exactly what one wants to hear from the guy they like?), his fake-girlfriend broke up with him and now his best friend was standing at his doorsill and mocking him.

"Oh, right... Your imaginary perfect girlfriend with big feet."

"Yep," Alex nodded. "Look, we've discussed what I want her to be like, but she should also be aware of all the good things I have to offer."

"Go on. _This_ I'd love to hear."

"Sooo... well... I don't know where to start..."

"You don't? Is this the apocalypse?"

"Maybe. But you _,_ my dearest friend, appear to be in a rather talkative mood today. So, how would _you_ introduce me to my chosen one?"

Hello there, oh imaginary chosen one, this adorable little fucker over there is Alex. He's really horrible sometimes but also really cool and please don't make him fall for you or I'll cry. "What kind of question is that?"

"A question you're supposed to answer."

"Well, I would..."

"I think you should mention my eyes," Alexander said with a barely suppressed smirk. "I've heard they're one of my best features."

"Okaay." How should he even react to that? He agreed, of course, but he kept that to himself.

"Then there's my hair, my cheekbones, my quick wit..."

"Wait! I've come up with the perfect solution!" John exclaimed.

"Yes?"

"Since you're perfect and your ideal soulmate is also perfect, I've reached the brilliant conclusion you should just date yourself," said John proudly.

"That sounds great, but," Alex made a sad face, "I can't kiss myself. And there's plenty of other stuff that's much easier to do when you're not on your own, if you know what I mean."

"In fact, I don't." He did know, he just didn't understand why this _other stuff_ had to be the first thing that jumped into everyone's mind after someone mentioned dating.

"Ask Martha, she'll show you."

"We broke up."

"What?"

"We broke up."

"Why?"

John barely had had any time to think about his and Martha's conversation, of course he had no idea what explation he should offer. Well, there was always the simplest one – the truth. "She's gay."

Alex sighed and put a hand on John's shoulder, "That... sucks for you.  I'm sorry. And I'm also sorry for saying this, but... you don't seem to be too heartbroken about it."

And at that moment, John's brain went _oh whatever, fuck it._ "I'm also gay. Or something."

For a few seconds, there was silence. And then the both of them burst out laughing.

"So you're into dudes and you've been seeing a lesbian for over a year. This might be the most ridiculous thing you've ever done," Alex couldn't stop roaring with laughter.

"Yeah, I know." John felt... he didn't know what he felt. Relieved, because finally someone else knew. Shocked, because he hadn't been planning to say that, damn his traitorous mouth. Hopeful, because what if Alex likes him, afraid because what if Alex doesn't, terrified because what if he actually _does_ for now, but will change his mind about it once he realizes he can do much better?

"So, I guess you won't help me find a girlfriend after all, seeing as that's not your area of expertise."

"Yep."

Alex winked, "How about you help me find a boyfriend instead?"


	3. Chapter 3

(2:05) Ham_ster: Laurens

(2:21) Ham_ster: Laureeeenssss

(2:34) Ham_ster: JOOOHN

(2:38) Ham_ster: Why does it always take you forever to reply to me?

(2:39) Ham_ster: Don't you like me? :(

(2:40) Ham_ster: Are you too busy?

(2:49) JLo: sorry, had to do my homework... i'm here now ;)

(2:50) Ham_ster: Awesome

(2:51) Ham_ster: I'm writing because of the Boyfriend For Alex project

(2:54) JLo: i'm logging off right now

(2:56) Ham_ster: Waaait... you don't want me to be happy with someone? :(

(2:58) JLo: of course i want you to be happy...

(3:00) Ham_ster: Great!

(3:04) Ham_ster: Ok as you know, I like girls and guys pretty much equally, but... I've never dated a guy before

(3:05) Ham_ster: What do you think would be the best way to ask a guy out?

(3:07) JLo: "Hi, I like you, will you go out with me?"

(3:08) JLo: you can't go wrong with that, i believe

(3:09) JLo: also give him your lost puppy look and don't forget to mention your... how did you put it? beautiful eyes, cheekbones and sharp wit?

(3:11) JLo: not even a straight dude could say no to that!

(3:14) Ham_ster: Are you making fun of me

(3:15) JLo: me? never!

(3:15) Ham_ster: Right...

(3:16) Ham_ster: Any other suggestions on how to impress my potential date? ;)

(3:18) JLo: i'd say 'try to look nice', but you already spend forever picking your clothes every morning, so...

(3:20) Ham_ster: You liar!

(3:20) JLo: liar? i'm an honest man

(3:23) JLo: look, i really don't know... just be you, that's the most important thing...

(3:24) JLo: btw... are you still making fun of me because i didn't tell you about martha or do you actually want to ask someone out?

(3:43) JLo: alex?

(3:48) Ham_ster: Maybe a little bit of both ;)

* * *

 

Mrs. Laurens didn't bother to knock before entering her son's room, she just strode in like a conquering king returning to his land. After seeing John half-sitting, half-lying on his bed and smiling at his cellphone, she frowned. "Who are you texting this time, John?"

John suspected that making every question sound like an accusation was an essential skill every mother had to master. "Alexander," he replied.

"You text him all the time."

"Well, he's my best friend." Only then John noticed his father was peeking into the room through the door Mrs. Laurens, of course, forgot to close properly. "What's going on? Yes, I'm finished with all my homework and I have washed the dishes, if that is what you two want to ask me."

"Not quite," said Mr. Laurens, stepping out of his wife's shadow and walking into the room. "Mrs. Manning called. She said you and Martha had broken up."

Oh shit. Now they were going to come up with intrusive questions John wasn't ready to answer. "That's true, yeah."

"You haven't told us."

He shrugged, "I... didn't want to talk about it." It wasn't exactly a lie, but John felt like a filthy liar anyway. During his last conversation with Alexander, John had called himself an honest man and even though he'd been joking, the description did suit him. He hated lying and keeping secrets, but what other choice did he have in a situation like this? He was too much of a coward to explain why he and Martha had broken up and what made them start their relationship in the first place.

"Are you okay?" Mrs. Laurens asked.

He would be okay if only she stopped interrogating him. "...I will be."

Mrs. Laurens seated herself on the bed right next to John. "Mrs. Manning told us some things and... we weren't sure if we should share them with you, but... then we agreed you have the right to know. Unless Martha has already told you herself?"

"Told me what? I don't understand."

John's parents exchanged a short, sad look. "Martha used you, dear," Mrs. Laurens said quietly. "She lied to you and never really cared about you. Just... forget about her."

He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of that statement. Martha was one of the few people he knew he could trust and here his parents thought she was the embodiment of pure evil or what. "No, Martha is a good person."

"John... Did you know she was cheating on you?"

"She wasn't."

"With one of the Schuyler girls."

John felt as if pushed into a corner he couldn't escape from. How should he react now? Should he feign surprise? Should he blame Martha? No, he couldn't do that, could he? He gulped. If only he had Alexander's improvisation skills and his way with words; only those might save him now. "Oh. Well. That is... I don't..."

"John." His mother's expression was pained and he felt a stab of guilt. "I can tell there's something you're hiding. You have been acting strange, something is obviously bothering you. You've been shying away from me and your father, you've been distant, you... you obviously knew your girlfriend was seeing someone else and instead of being... I don't know, disappointed or unhappy, you just... it's like you don't even care, like you don't feel upset at all. What's more, you're standing up for her. There is something going on, something you're not telling us, and we... we are concerned, you know? Because we wish we could help you and understand you better, but we can't do that if you don't let us."

It was getting harder and harder for John to breathe. This was so horrible and bizarre and... he felt more afraid and unsure and lost than he had in ages. "I knew that Martha didn't like boys," he said. "I knew from the beginning."

"So you were protecting her this whole time. Or... was she protecting you, too?"

John blinked. "What?"

Mrs. Laurens sighed. "I might be wrong, please correct me if that's the case, but... you and Martha... there was never anything between the two of you, right? Whenever I saw you together, there was nothing affectionate about how you treated each other, nothing that would imply you were a couple. And... before that... I don't remember you looking at girls the same way other boys did. You never chased them, never craved their attention, you just didn't care."

Shit. How were he and Martha not affectionate? They always laughed together, sometimes held hands, even exchanged a little kiss once in a while... Or was that it? Were they supposed to kiss more? Be one of those couples who commonly make out in public and don't give a crap about how many people see them or make disgusted noises while passing by? He winced at the thought. Groping girls in front of strangers was one of the least appealing ways of spending his free time that he could imagine.

Well, this talk couldn't get any worse now, could it. So no matter what he said now, it would hardly make things any more complicated for him. "That is... because I don't like girls. Never have." And now there was no turning back.

"And you were afraid to tell us."

This was definitely the most surreal day of his life. "Yes."

Mrs. Laurens inhaled deeply and stayed silent for a while. Then, "Look, I... I had my suspicions even before this whole thing with Martha. I hoped I was wrong because I didn't want you to be different, but... well... as time went by, I realized... you would still be you, right? So what if you were gay? How could I judge you because of something like that when you are the best thing that happened to me? You've always been such a kind, selfless boy... and we want you to know we will always love and support you, whatever decisions you make in your life."

John was speechless. He couldn't recall the last time his parents had told him they loved him. He knew they did, of course, they had proved it many times.  This, though... this was so unexpected and unbelievable that he nearly started crying right there and then. He had to blink several times to hold the tears back and he hugged his mother tight.

* * *

 

(9:22) JLo: my parents know

(9:24) Ham_ster: They know what?

(9:26) JLo: everything

(9:27) Ham_ster: No one knows everything

(9:28) Ham_ster: Not even me

(9:30) JLo: ugh

(9:33) JLo: they know just how very not-straight i am

(9:35) JLo: and how very not-straight martha is

(9:35) Ham_ster: How did they react?

(9:36) JLo: tbh they took it surprisingly well

(9:37) Ham_ster: That's great, I'm happy to hear that :)

(9:39) JLo: i'm also happy... and confused... and... i don't know, shit, this is so weird, i can't describe it

(9:41) JLo: how did your mom find out about you btw?

(9:44) Ham_ster: Told her when I was fifteen. She was like "Ok sweetheart, that's nice, what do you want for dinner?"

(9:45) Ham_ster: Well not these words exactly, but

(9:45) Ham_ster: She was okay with it

(9:46) Ham_ster: Fun fact - later I found out that mom is actually quite fond of the ladies, too... I guess it's against the rules to be straight when you're a Hamilton ;)

(9:47) JLo: wow

(9:48) Ham_ster: Wow indeed

(9:50) Ham_ster: But let's not talk about me, you're the real star of today ;)

(9:53) JLo: oh please

(9:55) JLo: i wouldn't have the courage to come out to her... she had to figure it out herself, more or less... i just suck at lying, is all

(9:57) Ham_ster: Leave it to John Laurens to never pass an opportunity to talk shit about himself...

 (9:58) Ham_ster: I'm proud of you and you should be proud of yourself and we should CELEBRATE THIS

(9:59) Ham_ster: Understood? Good. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 5

(10:02) JLo: you're the worst

(10:05) Ham_ster: I'm the best

(10:06) Ham_ster: No, WE are the best

(10:30) Ham_ster: You alive?

(10:32) JLo: shit sorry, i fell asleep :/

(10:34) JLo: i know it's not that late but i'm exhausted and need some rest, so... i guess it would be better if i went to bed instead of napping behind my desk

(10:36) Ham_ster: Ok, good night

(10:37) Ham_ster: And remember – tomorrow, 5pm, your place, CELEBRATING

(10:37) JLo: fine... how could i say no to you when you're all giddy and over-eager to CELEBRATE

(10:14) JLo: good night to you too ;)

(10:15) Ham_ster: :)


	4. Chapter 4

"...that's why William Shakespeare is one of the most important and influential writers of all times and..."

John was trying to pay attention, he truly was, but King's voice was so annoying and his lessons so boring that he could hardly keep himself from falling asleep. His eyes wandered from King to Alexander, who was watching King intently. Way too intently, considering his antipathy towards their English teacher.

As soon as King turned his back to the class, Alexander threw a crumpled piece of paper right at Eliza Schuyler's head. The girl frowned and turned at Alexander, who gave her the brightest smile he could muster. Eliza shook her head disapprovingly, picked the paper up and unfolded it. As her black eyes skimmed through it, her lips twitched with amusement. She scribbled a short answer to Alexander's message and threw it back to him.

King, who was too busy drawing something unrecognizable on the board, didn't know about anything that was happening behind his back.  He had no inkling that Alex and Eliza were exchanging short messages, or that Mulligan was playing Angry Birds, or that Jefferson and Madison kept whispering and cackling about god knows what.

"Hamilton!" said King, still engrossed in creating his masterpiece, "if I hear you laugh one more time..."

Alex frowned, "I wasn't laughing, sir."

"Do you think I'm deaf?"

"I don't think you're deaf, I just think you're confusing me with someone else, sir."

"And I think you're trying to make me look like a fool."

John rolled his eyes. If anyone was making George King look like a fool, it was himself. The man has always been biased against Alexander. Someone talked in the classroom? Alexander. Someone was making noise? Alexander. The weather was too cold? Alexander, obviously, how dare he!

"Alex was quiet, sir," John said.

King finally turned around. "Was he? And how would you know, when you're seated on the other side of the room?"

 _Because I have been staring at him for the past twenty minutes_ probably wouldn't be the best answer, John thought. Thankfully, Eliza saved him by saying, "It was Jefferson, I heard him."

"Thanks a lot, Schuyler," Jefferson hissed angrily.

"Hamilton! You're talking again."

Some days, John was wondering if punching King during class might be worth all the trouble it would cause. No, it certainly would be fun, but he couldn't get himself expelled. He had friends here, and Alexander, and his parents would most likely murder him. "Jefferson talked, Alex has done nothing wrong!" Except for throwing paper at Eliza Schuyler and grinning stupidly while doing so, but John decided to leave that part out. "You're being unfair to him. Not everything is his fault, you know. Sir."

Burr, who was sitting in the second row right in front of John, sighed and resignedly closed his textbook. It was clear to everyone present there would be no more analysing Othello's last speech. Instead, more drama involving Hamilton, Laurens and King would follow.

King glowered at John. "You don't know when to shut up, do you, Laurens. As you wish. You have until next week to turn in a three page long essay on what we were talking about in today's class."

"You mean an essay about Alex Hamilton?" John asked.

"Shut up already, Laurens," Burr whispered. "You're only making everything worse."

One of the things Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens had in common was that once they started arguing with someone, there was no stopping them. John appeared to be a nice quiet kid most of the time, but if you upset him, you had better run for your life.

"Haha, very funny. I mean about Othello, obviously."

"Why does he get punished when all he did was stand up for me?" said Alexander. "I am the one who was allegedly laughing and talking all the time, so if you feel the need to give special homework to someone, I am your man, not Laurens."

"Oh you'll get your homework, too, don't worry about that. Same assignment, except your essay will be one page longer."

"Four pages in total?" Alex sounded almost disappointed. "That's not even long enough for a proper introduction..."

Burr facepalmed.

"Oh really? Six pages for the both of you, then."

"Six pages for doing nothing. Great. It's not like I had anything better to do with my time," John muttered loud enough for King to hear him, but for once, the teacher didn't respond. He's had enough of yelling at his students and demonstrating what a dick he was for one day.

John's phone buzzed in his pocket.

(1:20) Ham_ster: You didn't have to do that, but thank you. Don't worry, I'll write that essay for you.

(1:21) JLo: yes i did have to do that and don't you dare, i'll have you know i am fully capable of doing my own homework

(1:22) Ham_ster: I know you can write well, but it takes you forever and you spend more time checking for mistakes, deleting an rewriting everything twenty times than actually working

John looked up to grin at Alex, but Alex's head was bent down as he was reading another message from Eliza. Then he gave her a small nod and a wide smile, which made Eliza blush. John felt something in his stomach clench. What the hell, was he actually jealous of Eliza Schuyler because of a few secret messages and stolen smiles? This was getting ridiculous.

Wait. Alex had been asking him for advice on how to ask someone out, hadn't he? What if he meant Eliza? Yes, he was talking about a boyfriend, but Alex was the master of double meanings, maybe John missed something. Shit.

When the school bell rang and Eliza left the class room, walking by Alex's side and giggling at something he had whispered in her ear, John was trying hard not to draw any conclusions, but his traitorous mind wouldn't listen to him. Alex always waited for him when their classes ended. This time, though, he opted for Eliza's company instead.

 _Fuck, Laurens, that doesn't mean anything. He's allowed to have friends other than you, you know._ Alex had told him before he didn't have feelings for Eliza, but he might have hanged his mind since then. Human emotions worked in mysterious ways, after all.

It was impossible to dislike a sweet girl like Eliza. If the mere thought of Alex and her getting together didn't make John feel so shitty, he'd have to admit they'd make a cute couple. Ugh. He had to abandon this train of thought before it drove him insane. And grab something for lunch – good food always made the world look a little bit brighter.

* * *

 

The minute hand of the clock was slowly approaching the number nine, which signified that any moment now, Alex would arrive for the 'CELEBRATION'. He hadn't been answering John's messages though, not since the incident with King. When it came to Alex, this kind of behaviour was suspicious, because he usually answered every text a few seconds after you sent it. Sometimes even a few seconds before you sent it, or so it seemed to John – that's just how fast Alexander was and how obsessed he was with social media and texting.

Could it be that Alex forgot about their meeting? No, he never forgot anything, especially when he was the one to suggest it. Although... what if...? God, John was becoming paranoid. All he could see was Alex hanging out with Eliza, whispering sweet nothings to her, leaning in to kiss her...

Nope. Nooope. He had to stop there. Why the hell would his mind supply him with such horrifying images?

Eliza would no doubt be the perfect girlfriend. Lovely, always there for her loved ones... and Lafayette claimed she was also a good kisser. How and when he found, John had no idea and frankly, he preferred it that way. Sometimes it was better not knowing all the details.

John wasn't a good kisser, or at least he thought so. He wasn't the most experienced person in the world and his last kiss went... well, it was fucking awkward. It happened at one of Lafayette's parties. John had had a little bit too much to drink and there'd been this one cute guy flirting with him and... somehow, they'd ended up making out in Lafayette's guest room. It had started out nice enough, but then the guy had pressed his knee between John's legs and began to unbutton John's shirt and that's when John had suddenly sobered up. What-was-his-name's hands had been all over him and it hadn't been entirely unpleasant, but upon imagining what would undoubtedly follow, John had pushed the guy away.

"What's wrong?" he'd frowned.

If only John knew. What the hell was wrong with him? This guy was hot and wanted him and John should be happy as a clam. Except he wasn't.

He'd said the only excuse he could come up with, "I... sorry, but... I'm taken, I can't do this."

"Fuck... Are you sure? I mean, I don't see your boyfriend anywhere nearby."

"Yeah, but I really care about him, so... I can't. I should go," John said apologetically.

The guy had stepped away from John and raised his hands in defeat, "Alright, I see. It's a pity though, you're really cute. If you ever change your mind..."

"Sure, you'll be the first to know," John had said and quickly disappeared out of the room.

He had left the party early and spent the rest of the night thinking about the experience over and over again. Fuck, he wasn't ten anymore, he was supposed to want this, to enjoy this! Instead, he had been lying in his bed, alone and confused. Where others would be blinded with desire, all he felt was disinterest and discomfort. Was he still too young? Or maybe one-night stands just weren't his thing? The hell if he knew.

Later, John managed to convince himself that the guy probably wasn't his type after all and that people do and feel all kind of weird stuff when drunk. He didn't dwell on the memory anymore. But now, seven months later, it all hit him again like a truck. Yeah, he'd be the shittiest boyfriend in the world, considering he'd take watching dumb movies over banging hot guys any day.

Thankfully, the sound of the door bell prevented him from thinking more strange thoughts. So Alex hasn't forgotten after all! John couldn't help but smile. He rushed towards the door, opened it and...

...well _fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, I can't say I'm fully satisfied with this chapter, or the one before that... Could it be because I wrote them at about 2am during sleepless nights? Who knows ;D Thank you for all your support and lovely words! Each comment makes me very happy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - this shit is so cheesy and sweet it might make your teeth hurt.

Standing in front of him was Alexander, dressed in a white shirt with its sleeves rolled up, a black vest and a tie. He had tied his hair up into a bun instead of his usual messy ponytail and holy shit, he looked like someone who could appear on the front page of a fashion magazine. Alex looked incredibly handsome even during PE classes where he wore old sweaty clothes and his hair stuck out into all directions, so how was John supposed to survive him like this?

Alex must have thought John was going nuts if he couldn't even say 'hello' and instead, kept gaping at him.

"Hi," said Alex.

It took John a while to force his vocal cords to cooperate, "Hey."

"... you remember we agreed that I'd pick you up, right? Because you seem kinda... shocked."

"I had no idea you'd want to go somewhere fancy, I'm wearing jeans and a fucking Harry Potter t-shirt!"

"The place is not that fancy. And you look nice." It wasn't unlike Alex to use flattery, but... mostly, it was said jokingly and accompanied by a trademark Hamilton smirk. Not now. Alex's eyes were fixed on John's as he smiled softly.

John wasn't going to survive this evening, he wasn't. He hoped his family would pick a nice epitaph and a good place for his grave. "T-thanks? You, um... you look nice, too." And if that wasn't the understatement of the century.

And there was that fucking smile again – the corners of Alex's mouth barely moved, but his eyes lightened up as though he was looking at something precious. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just have, actually."

"Oh haha, Mr. Smartass. Something else, obviously." And was it just John or did Alex look a bit... nervous? No, John's eyes must have been playing tricks on him; the word nervousness wasn't in Alex's dictionary.

"Okay, shoot."

Alex ran a hand through his hair and grinned, "So, as you've said yourself, I look stunning today. Also, I'm hilarious, highly intelligent and an excellent conversation partner - in short, a total catch. Aand I happen to like you. A lot. Which is why I'd like this to be a date, if that would be okay with you...?"

If that would be okay with him? Was he serious? "A date? You mean that?"

Alex rolled his eyes, "No Laurens, I'm an absolute asshole and I'm just making fun of you. Of course I mean it! So, your answer?"

"That... would be more than okay with me," John said, not any less dumbfounded.

"Great!" Alex was grinning like an idiot and it was impossible for John not to join him. "Now, follow me, I'm going to show you that kind of fancy but not that fancy place. Eliza recommended it to me, but I've never been there before, so... if it's not as perfect as she claimed, I'm going to be very angry at her."

"Please don't be very angry at anyone, you know it never ends well," said John, locking the door to his house and catching up with Alexander.

"Says the guy who threw a plate against the wall. In the dining hall, of all places."

"That happened once! And Jefferson should count himself lucky I didn't throw it at his ugly face."

"I would love to see that. What was it exactly you two were arguing about?"

"Ah, I didn't realize you weren't there... It started with him fat-shaming some younger girl; I asked him to fuck off, but this is Jefferson we're talking about, so you can bet he didn't. Then we continued to yell at each other for about twenty minutes, I don't even recall all the topics we broached, but he was being a real dick, so... yeah. I couldn't help myself."

"Wow. What a pity I missed that."

"Yeah, I don't think so. I caused enough trouble by myself, if you were there, who knows what would have happened. We could've murdered Jefferson, or set the hall on fire."

"Sounds like fun. But," Alex suddenly stopped walking and smirked at John, "I can think of more fun things to do. And we're here, by the way."

As they entered the restaurant, John immediately regretted he hadn't changed his Hogwarts t-shirt for something less... nerdy, despite Alex's reassurances that he looked great. It wasn't too posh, Alex hadn't lied about that, but he still felt slightly out of place. The decoration could be described as minimalist but elegant and the warm colors helped create a pleasant atmosphere. Only three tables were occupied at the moment, other than that, the place was empty and rather quiet.

"Okay, looks like I won't have to throw any plates at Eliza Schuyler, unless we find out the food tastes like horse shit," said Alex and pointed at the table he'd made a reservation for. They walked towards it and sat down.

"I'm used to horse shit... you know, the stuff they feed us in school."

"See, and that's why I prepare my meals myself. It's tastier and costs less." Given the way he talked and dressed, sometimes it was easy to forget that Alexander came from a rather poor background and had to work two side jobs to be able to afford everything he wanted. In addition to that, he excelled at school and never forgot to hand out assignments, yet he had time for his friends whenever they needed him and kept blogging and spamming his facebook and twitter feed. How the hell he managed to do all that, John had no clue, but he definitely admired him for it.

"Alex?"

"Mhm?"

"How do you ever get any sleep with all the things you have going on in your life?"

"I use a time machine."

"I'm being serious."

Alex winked at him, "So am I."

"Are you sure you want to keep making fun of me? This is a restaurant, I'm sure they own a lot of plates and various utensil."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm not. Or am I? I'll let you figure that one out."

"You're awful, man," Alex sighed, but there was undeniable fondness in his eyes.

* * *

 

About an hour into the date, John finally realized that – fuck, Alex Hamilton had actually asked him out and there he was sitting right opposite him, all gorgeous and charming and watching him as if he felt just as happy as John.

When they finished their meals, Alex paid the check ("Alex, let me at least pay my half." "Are you insane? I'm not letting my date pay a single cent, now put that wallet away and I'll pretend you never said this.") and left a large tip. He grabbed John's hand and led him out of the restaurant.

"And now let's return you to your parents before they start thinking I kidnapped you," said Alex cheerfully. "By the way, is me holding your hand fine? I know you're not out to everyone, so... I'd get it if you didn't want to be seen with a guy."

"My parents know and the rest of the world can bite me," said John. Alex's hand felt so warm and right in his and he couldn't care less what anyone else had to say on that matter.

"The rest of the world can bite you and I can't? That's just unfair if you ask me."

And here it was again – Alex's ability to make everything sound sexual. Although, John had to admit he should have seen this one coming. "...yeah well, sorry. I can't help being unfair and evil whenever the opportunity arises, you know me."

Instead of laughing it off, Alex frowned, "Hey, you alright? You seemed kinda tense for a while there."

"Ah, that's nothing," John smiled, although he supposed it didn't look quite as convincing as he had hoped. He quickly changed the subject, "You don't have to walk me all the way home if you don't want to. I know you don't live that near and..."

"Was that a nice way of telling me I should leave you alone?"

"What? No! I just, I'd hate to bother you."

Alex shook his head, "Right, you bother me all the time and I just can't stand spending my free time with you, which is why I'd asked you out and why we're walking hand in hand right now."

"God, you can be such a sarcastic little shit, you know that, Hamilton?"

"I think you might have told me that before, Laurens, once or twice. Or maybe every other day."

"Well, if I tell you every other day, maybe you should start listening."

"Oh, but you like it when I'm being a sarcastic little shit, admit it. You'd be bored out of your mind if we couldn't have our daily sarcasm-offs."

Of course John liked it, he liked pretty much everything Alex did and said and... ugh, he was really deep in now, wasn't he? "Maybe."

"Ha, you always say maybe when you can't come up with anything clever."

"Maybe," John deadpanned. Only with great reluctance, he let go of Alex's hand, immediately missing his touch, but... they stood just a few meters away from his home now and he couldn't just drag Alex inside with him and keep him there forever.

Or could he?

Nah. Not that it didn't sound like an interesting idea, though.

"So," Alex spoke, "I think we should do this again some other time. Preferably soon."

"I think so, too," John said with a small smile. "I really enjoyed this, you know."

"Sure you did, I'd told you I was an excellent conversation partner."

"Yeah, you're amazing and fantastic and all that. But I really have to go now, so... see you tomorrow?"

"Yep, I'll be looking forward to it."

As Alex was about to leave, John stopped him for a while and leaned down to kiss his cheek. Then he reluctantly turned around.

And well, if that stupid lovesick smile stayed on his face even after he closed the door and ran into his room, no one had to know.


	6. Chapter 6

(10:47) Ham_ster: I've finished our essays

(10:50) JLo: what? I told you not to do mine!

(10:51) Ham_ster: Oh you know me, once I start working on something, I can't stop

(10:52) Ham_ster: Also wrote political science homework for two confused freshmen... BUT they had to pay for it lol

(10:54) JLo: true businessman

(10:55) Ham_ster: I didn't ask for much tho, I'm a cheap working force

(10:56) Ham_ster: Speaking of school, you ready for the Math test tomorrow?

(11:00) JLo: ...math test??

(11:02) JLo: OH NOO

(11:02) JLo: fuck it

(11:02) JLo: fuck my life

(11:03) JLo: fuck school

(11:03) JLo: fuck me

(11:03) Ham_ster: Right after the first date?? You're not one for taking things slowly, are you lol

(11:03) JLo: fuck my turtle

(11:03) JLo: wait what

(11:04) Ham_ster: What

(11:06) JLo: that's not what i meant! please don't fuck anything

(11:06) JLo: especially not my turtle

(11:08) Ham_ster: Okaay, as you wish

(11:11) JLo: gotta go now... to cry over math and then sleep

(11:12) Ham_ster: Alright

(11:12) Ham_ster: Good luck, good night and sweet dreams :*

John turned his laptop off and shook his head exhaustedly. His evening had had such a lovely start and here he was now, feeling like banging his head against the wall. He hated himself for overthinking everything so much, but the annoying thoughts telling him everything would go wrong sooner or later wouldn't leave him alone. Maybe he shouldn't have even gone out with Alex...? But in that moment, nothing and no one in the world could have convinced him to say _no_ to him. When Alex Hamilton appears at your doorstep looking all handsome and cute and asks you out, you just don't tell him to go away because "it might eventually not work".

It was... weird. Earlier that day, John had been absolutely sure he was gayer than a bunch of unicorns jumping over a rainbow, but now he was having doubts about everything. Was the sky really blue? Was Aaron Burr really a jerk? He just didn't know.

The making out incident at Lafayette's had been the beginning of a new era in John's life. If he had to give it a name, he'd pick something like _I don't mind being single and random hook-ups are apparently not my thing, but if Alexander Hamilton ever showed up at my room and wanted to cuddle, I would be so up for that._ Except Alex didn't come across as the cuddling type. Well actually he did, provided the cuddling was preceded or followed by other activities. Ugh.

John knew that some people preferred taking things slowly and wouldn't want to get intimate with a stranger. He used to believe that was his case as well but fuck, Alex hadn't been a stranger to him for a long time already and yeah, John was kinda in love with him, but nothing had changed. What did that mean? Was he actually gay? Was he kinda gay but not gay enough? Jesus, these thoughts were exhausting.

Without fully realizing what he was doing, he turned his laptop on again to check which of his contants were still online. The dot next to Alex's name was red – was he actually getting some sleep for once? John smirked.

He kept scrolling down until he reached the end of the list. He needed to talk to someone or he'd go crazy, but half past eleven evidently wasn't the preferred chatting time for most people. First he thought he might message Martha, but...

_PeggysBabe is currently offline_

...Martha was obviously asleep, or had more important things to do than listen to him whine about his life. As for one of his favorite drinking buddies...

_Son_of_zeus is currently WAITING FOR ALL THE SEXY LADIES AND HORSES TO MESSAGE HIM!! ;) ;)_

...yeah, perhaps Hercules Mulligan wasn't the best choice, either. Besides, John was neither a sexy lady nor a horse and he didn't want to disappoint Mulligan.

_omelettedufromage is currently trying not to think about tomorrow's math test... and failing... and crying in the corner_

Well, seemed like both he and Lafayette weren't in the best of moods and as they say, a problem shared is a problem halved.

(11:39) JLo: Lafayette?

(11:49) JLo: HEY GILBERT

(11:50) omelettedufromage: DON'T U EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN

(11:51) JLo: good, i knew that would work

(11:52) JLo: hope i'm not disturbing you from your crying in the corner

(11:54) omelettedufromage: nah it's fine

(11:57) JLo: there's... something i wanted to talk about...

(11:59) omelettedufromage: should i be scared

(12:02) JLo: i think i'm scared enough for the both of us tbh

(12:03) omelettedufromage: ...go on

(12:05) JLo: ummm so...

(12:06) JLo: had a date today

(12:06) JLo: with Alex...

(12:06) omelettedufromage: OMG OMG OMG

(12:07) omelettedufromage: I FUCKIN KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN

(12:07) omelettedufromage: AND I KNEW U WEREN'T STR8

(12:07) omelettedufromage: CONGRATS

(12:08) omelettedufromage: HOW DID IT GO

(12:08) JLo: geez Lafayette calm down...

(12:08) omelettedufromage: sorry

(12:10) JLo: it went well... but...

(12:11) JLo: there's this... stuff that has been bothering me and...

(12:12) JLo: ugh

(12:12) JLo: i don't know what to do :(

(12:13) omelettedufromage: what kind of stuff

(12:14) JLo: i, uh... there are things i am just not... ready for

(12:15) JLo: and i don't know when or if i will be

(12:15) JLo: ...if you know what i mean

(12:18) omelettedufromage: do u mean, like

(12:18) omelettedufromage: dirrrrty stuff

(12:20) JLo: yeah

(12:20) JLo: shit this is awkward... look, i really like him, but i don't think i want to do... that

(12:21) JLo: also i've known him for several years and i trust him and all that, so... i don't get it

(12:24) omelettedufromage: aren't u ace or sth

(12:28) JLo: what?

(12:29) JLo: speak English, please

(12:31) omelettedufromage: as in asexual

(12:34) JLo: oh... i don't think so? I told you i like him

(12:35) omelettedufromage: aces can like someone without wanting to bang them u potato

(12:36) omelettedufromage: you can have crushes and everything, you just don't wanna get in their pants

(12:36) omelettedufromage: do ur research

(12:59) omelettedufromage: u there?

(1:05) JLo: doing my research... shit, i think those definitions describe me pretty well? :/ ugh why me, i never asked for this

(1:05) JLo: it's like i didn't have enough reasons to be angry at myself already :')

(1:07) omelettedufromage: SHUT UP, UR COOL AF AND THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH U

(1:09) JLo: if you say so...

(1:09) omelettedufromage: yes i say so

(1:10) JLo: thank you...

(1:12) JLo: i guess i should tell Alex, right? we only had one date, so hopefully he won't be too angry that i was leading him on...

(1:15) omelettedufromage: omg ur such a pessimist it makes me wanna cry more than the math test

(1:17) omelettedufromage: look, just... talk to him, ok? tell him what you've told me and you'll see what happens... i know you're afraid, but hams is a good guy, he can def be understanding and he's so into you it hurts

(1:18) omelettedufromage: also i remember how someone at a pride parade once told him that the a stands for ally and hams looked like he wanted to smash the guy's skull... so at least there's that

(1:19) omelettedufromage: now stop worrying ur pretty head and go get some sleep ;)

(1:22) JLo: ok, i guess you're right...

(1:23) JLo: thank you for talking to me, it means a lot

(1:24) omelettedufromage: no prob!

(1:25) omelettedufromage: and don't forget to talk to alex, i'm sure u gonna

(1:25) omelettedufromage: ace it

(1:28) JLo: ugh...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh by the way... I sincerely apologise for all the mistakes I've made and will make, I do realise my English isn't perfect, so... sorry if my grammar offends anyone haha


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who wants some more cheesiness and horrible ace puns, huh??  
> (By the way, there'll probably be only one or two more chapters coming after this one, just so you know. Meaning 8 or 9 in total. Originally, though, this whole thing was supposed to have THREE - here you can see how good I am at sticking to my plans lol)

"Oh come on! I need someone like you, it's for a good cause and..."

"Doesn't matter how many times you ask me, my answer hasn't changed – no."

"Please?"

"Look, I don't know how about you, but I seriously don't want to be expelled!"

"No one is going to get you expelled, man. You're overreacting."

"Geez Hamilton, just... I'm not saying I don't see your point, but I don't want to get involved. You can't force me," said Burr, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

Alexander sighed wearily, turned around and ran right into John who had been waiting for Alex to finish his discussion with Burr. "Shit! Sorry, I didn't see you there!"

"It's okay, I was being quiet on purpose, didn't want to disturb you. What was it you and Burr were arguing about?"

"We were talking, not arguing."

"So why did Burr look like he wanted to abandon the battlefield?"

"He always looks like that," Alex pointed out. "Anyway, I was trying to convince him to give me a hand with something, but to no avail. I wanted him to write some articles for our school newspaper."

Oh. Honestly, it was a small wonder no one from the teaching staff had tried to ban the students from releasing their newspaper yet. Alex contributed regularly by writing complaints and reflection essays and more often than not he ended up in the principal's office because of them. That room must have felt like home to him by now.

"I see. What about?" John asked.

"King," said Alex simply. "I'm tired of how unfair and immature he is – he gave me a C for my Othello essay, would you believe that? He said my opinions were unfounded, my sentences too long and he even added some commas and grammatical errors that I would never make! He did the same to Eliza and, undoubtedly, to you, too. And all that just because we dared to speak on our behalf."

"Well, we've always known King was a piece of shit."

"Yeah, but don't worry, I'll show him." Alex paused. "But I don't suppose you were waiting for me after class just to talk about King?"

"No. There's actually something I..."

And of course Thomas Jefferson had to pick that one particular moment to exit the bathroom, catch sight of Alex, wave at him and shout, "Oh, Hamilton! There you are."

"Can it wait, Jefferson?" Alex yelled back. "I have stuff to do."

"You can do your _stuff,_ " Jefferson glanced at John, "later. We need to talk about the newspaper thing. Now."

Alex gave John an apologetic look; John just nodded. Alex rewarded him with a gentle smile, ruffled his hair and whispered, "Talk to you later," in his ear before running off.

John returned back to the classroom and sat behind his desk. Of all the guys in the world, of course he had to date one who was constantly busy and showed all the signs of workaholism while still in high school. Not that he would ever trade Alex for anyone else, he just wished he could sometimes approach him in public and get to say at least five sentences before getting interrupted by someone who sorely needed something and Alex was the only one who could save their sorry asses and blah blah blah.

Nevermind, he could wait until the next break.

-

The next break, Alex had to go help Jefferson, again. The one after that he was explaining some school stuff to Eliza, the one after after that Mulligan got to Alex first, started telling him dumb jokes and couldn't be stopped and...

Okay, getting Alex's attention during school was an impossible task, John had to come to terms with that. No, wrong – getting Alex's _attention_ was easy, seeing as he kept glancing at John and giving him small smiles the whole day. Getting his time, though? Now _that_ was a problem.

It was during History that a paper airplane landed gracefully on John's desk. He picked it up and found a short message inside.

_Me and Jefferson have finally finished writing that article about King. He's going to KILL US when he reads it. I can't wait! –A._

John grinned, added his reply and threw the airplane back.

_You can't wait to get killed? –J._

_Doesn't matter if I get killed as long as it PISSES THE BASTARD OFF. –A._

_Yes it does matter, Alexander! What about our ten children, who is going to feed them if you kick the bucket? Have you thought about that, you selfish monster? –J._

"Alexander! Care to explain why you're _giggling_ when I'm talking about Mussolini?" said Washington exasperatedly.

"Sorry, sir," said Alex while trying to keep a straight face.

Washington rolled his eyes and returned to his presentation, muttering something under his breath. Fortunately for Alex, at least _one_ teacher liked him instead of wanting to murder him.

Before the school bell rang and Alex, of course, disappeared no one knows where (Perhaps the principal's office? He hadn't been there for all of three days!), John received one more message.

_Okay, I'll do my best to survive, but only because of you (and our children, obviously). Sorry for today, I had too much shit to do, but I swear I'll make it up to you. –A._

And John totally _didn't_ stuff that message in his pocked and keep it there, because that would be too sappy, right?

-

John would be the first to admit that yes, he was a fucking weirdo. One of the things he'd always hated about himself was his moodiness and proneness to get terribly anxious or pissed off without a proper reason. Sometimes he felt like the calmest person in the whole of America who would fearlessly sip champagne in his room even if there was a tornado heading towards his city. Other times, however, he felt like punching and kicking everything around him just because he wasn't able to find matching socks.

Today was apparently more of a WHERE-IS-THE-OTHER-FUCKING-SOCK day, meaning – John felt shitty, didn't know why and instead of doing anything productive he was curled up in a blanket, stuffing himself with raspberry ice cream (YES in November, so what) and watching Breaking Bad. Good thing no one could see him, he must have looked like a big pathetic ball of grumpiness. Well actually, his mother did see him, but she was used to this and after John murmured that he needed some time alone, all she did was nod and leave him to his sulking.

Wait, wasn't that the message notification sound?

(7:32) omelettedufromage: soo how did it go with the boyfriend?

(7:35) JLo: it didn't

(7:35) omelettedufromage: ?

(7:37) JLo: i tried to talk to him, really, but... there was no time

(7:39) omelettedufromage: i see

(7:39) omelettedufromage: so u didn't talk face to (f)ace?

(7:40) JLo: LAFAYETTE!!

(7:41) omelettedufromage: sorry sorry

(7:42) omelettedufromage: am i disgrACING u

(7:43) JLo: one more ace pun and i'm not talking to you

(7:46) JLo: it's just, you know that feeling when you gather the courage to do something and then you don't have the opportunity to actually do it, even though you know you could, and then the courage is all gone, like... at first you're like I CAN DO THIS and then it shifts to I CAN'T DO SHIT, I'M JUST GONNA WATCH NETFLIX AND WEEP INTO MY PILLOW

(7:50) omelettedufromage: u can be such a drama queen laurens... but yea i kno what u mean

(7:52) omelettedufromage: but u can do it, i believe in u

(7:55) omelettedufromage: just embrACE ur inner strength

(8:20) omelettedufromage: ...laurens?

(8:20) omelettedufromage: shit

-

One Breaking Bad episode later – that was a legit way of measuring time, right? – Mrs. Laurens marched into his room. "John?"

He paused the TV show. "Yes mom?"

"Alexander was here, he told me to give you this." She lifted her left hand in which she was holding a paper bag.

John sat up so quickly his blanket slid off his shoulders. "Alex was here?"

"Yes, but you wanted to be alone, so I didn't invite him in."

John facepalmed internally. "You could have, it's Alex," he said as though it explained everything.

"So Alexander can talk to you but I can't, huh?" Mrs. Laurens folded her arms.

John sighed. Leave it to mothers to take everything the wrong way. "No, that's not... anyway, what's in the bag?"

"When I told him you weren't in a talking mood, he asked me for a piece of paper and a pen, so... I don't know what else is inside, but he added a note to it."

"Thanks mom." John looked at her, then at the door.

She rolled his eyes, "Right, I got it. You want to be _alone,_ or with Alexander, but I sent him away, so it's just you and your laptop now. And your ice cream – god, how much did you eat?!"

"Not that much!"

"Right. Well if you get sick, I'm not taking care of you." With that, she finally slammed the door shut.

John impatiently grabbed the paper bag to check its content. He took out a coffee filled Starbucks tumbler (was Alex attempting to turn him into a hipster?), a cupcake and, true to his mother's words, a note. He read that one first.

_Hey handsome,_

_Your mom says you're being silent and grumpy and don't want to be disturbed, so I'm just leaving this here. Angelica texted me earlier this evening; she thought you looked kinda troubled today and said maybe I should check up on you, so. I brought you some coffee and something unhealthy to snack on – I know you'd die for cupcakes or basically anything else that contains sugar. Hope it brightens your day at least a bit. I don't want you to be sad._

_Let me know if you feel like going out tomorrow, because I'd looove to._

_xxx_

_Alex_

Of course John immediately drank the coffee and ate the cupcake. Of course his stomach wasn't exactly happy about it, but whatever. Alex was right – for John, cupcakes and candy were like the second most amazing thing in the world.


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh, there you are! Mulligan wanted something from you, but the poor guy couldn't find you anywhere," John said. "He even tried yelling something about Burr being smarter than you in hopes it would summon you, but... nada."

"I've had to help Washington with reorganizing the library – principal's orders."

"So this is how Franklin rewarded you for writing that article about King being a dick?"

"Yep! I don't really mind though, this work isn't that awful, you just... pick up a book and put it somewhere else. Then you pick up another. Kinda dull, but simple," Alex said. Currently, he was carrying a pile of books so high that his face could hardly be seen behind it. How Alex, his view blocked by the book-tower, could navigate his way through the school library without knocking over any of the shelves or dropping the books was a mystery to John.

"Right. You know, I think you should get your own armchair in principal Franklin's office already, he sees you more often than his own children."

"Well, I definitely see Franklin much more often than I see my father... By the way, have you read the article?" It was cute how whenever Alex began to talk about his own work, he was literally unable not to look smug as fuck.

"Yeah," John nodded. "I loved it, obviously; especially the part where you describe King as the human equivalent of socks in sandals. I can't explain why, but it just fits him so well."

"Thank you, I knew you'd appreciate it," Alex smirked, evidently very proud of himself.

"Yeah, I always appreciate it when someone is being shitty to shitty people."

If it weren't for the two of them, the library would have been filled with silence. The classes were long over, after all, and every single student had rocketed out of the school as soon as the bell started ringing. Well, every student except for John, who stayed to borrow some art history literature, and Alex, who apparently had to make amends for comparing King to a controversial fashion combination. The only other person present was Washington, napping behind his desk on the other side of the library.

Alright. No one seemed to be eavesdropping, so this probably was a good moment as any. John took a deep breath. "Alex?"

"John?" Alex grinned, put the books he'd been holding down on the carpet and kneeled next to them. "Shit, I was pretty sure there was supposed to be a Sienkiewicz under those two Stendhals... Nevermind, what is it?"

"Look, I... have this friend and... he asked me for some relationship advice. I didn't know what to tell him, but I figured you might."

"Ohh, this is going to be interesting. Who is this friend, do I know him?" Right, of course Alex would switch to full-on gossip girl mode. "What kind of problem is it? Is it of a... delicate nature? Please tell me it is of a delicate nature, those are my favorites."

John rolled his eyes, "In a way? But I have to disappoint you, it's not too funny."

"I'm sure it is, at least a bit. So?"

And shit, this was a horrible idea, but now it was too late for John to chicken out. "Well, he is... kinda... uhh..."

"He's kinda uhh, you say? That sucks, but I'm afraid that's a condition I can't help him with."

"Oh shut up. It's..."

All of sudden, Alex stood up, raising his hand and covering John's mouth with it. He ignored John's futile attempts at protesting and said calmly, "Wait. I'm not stupid, okay? I know that old _I have this friend and he has a big problem but he's actually imaginary because he's me and I was too shy to tell you_ thing. So, something is bothering but you're not sure if you can trust me with it, is that right?" Damn, Alex had no right to use those sad puppy eyes on John, that was just unfair.

"That's... Jesus, Alex, stop looking at me like that, are you trying to kill me?"

"You said it was a relationship thing, so it has to be something I did wrong," Alex said thoughtfully. "Shit, you're not allergic to cupcakes, are you?"

"No, I'm not allergic to cupcakes."

"To coffee, then? To my cologne? Are you allergic to _me?"_

"No!" John wondered if he would ever actually get to the point. "Look, I... thing is, I'm not exactly... gay."

"Yeah, you're gay _or something,_ you've told me that before," Alex smirked, the bastard. Ugh. "Wait, does that mean you're bi? But I have no idea why you'd be nervous to tell me that, you know I'd just laugh and bi-five you."

In that moment, John thanked the god he wasn't biromantic, because no person could survive both Lafayette's ace jokes and Alex's bi jokes and stay sane. "No, I'm not bi."

"Are you pan?"

"No."

In that moment, Alex's expression turned into one of pure terror. "Please tell me you didn't realize you're actually straight after all."

"Well... I realized that guys just don't do it for me," John said gravely. "Sorry."

"What?!" No, _this_ was pure terror. "So, you... are you saying..." Wow, this must have been the first time anyone had ever made Alex speechless. If it weren't for the hurt in his eyes, it would almost be funny. Damn, now John was feeling guilty.

"Look, I'm not 100% sure about this yet, but, um... I think I might be asexual," John almost added another _or something_ to the end of the sentence _,_ but then thought better of it. "Like, it's all new and confusing to me and... I mean, when you're gay, you look at a hot guy and you brain goes  _holy shit he's perfect and I want my hands all over him_ and bam, you know you're into guys. But asexuality is all about _not knowing_ what that feels like, right? So how can I be sure that I really don't know when I don't know what I'm even supposed to know?"

"I don't know?"

"Exactly!" John shouted. "Erm, shit, I should lower the volume."

Alex waved his hand, "Don't worry, you'd have to bring an orchestra to wake up old George."

"No, I mean... this is the library, you don't yell at libraries, that's plain wrong. It pisses the books off."

"Dear books, John is very sorry for disturbing you. Please don't hurt him."

"Nice, thanks, you saved my life. Now, could we... you know, return to the previous topic?"

"Yes. Jesus fucking Christ, you scared the shit out of me, for a while there I actually believed you might be s _traight._ How could you?"

"Sorry."

"Apology accepted. So..."

"Before you say anything, I don't want you to stay with me out of pity. If... if this is a problem, tell me now and I'll have to suck it up, I guess. I wouldn't blame you," John said, trying to smile and failing miserably.

"Now let me get this... straight, for the lack of a better expression," Alex said slowly. "After all this time you've known me, you still haven't noticed that I'm absolutely head over heels for you? And yeah, I want to stay with you, but it has nothing to do with pity and everything to do with you being you and..."

John silenced Alex by grabbing his face and pulling him into a kiss. Alex blinked, momentarily confused about how he ended up with an armful of Laurens kissing him like his life depended on it. His surprise wore of quickly, though, and he drew John closer to him, sighing contently into his mouth.

Then, John chuckled breathlessly, "Wow, I've actually found an efficient way of shutting you up."

Alex grinned and was about to reply, but someone else was faster than him. "Please remind me, Hamilton," oh no, and that was definitely Washington's voice John could hear from behind him, "did principal Franklin ask you to _work_ in this library or to drag Laurens into a corner to kiss him?"

"He dragged me, actually," Alex muttered under his breath, then continued more loudly, "I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again."

John coughed awkwardly, "Well... I guess I better go, right?"

"That might be wise, yes," said Washington.

"We can continue later," Alex winked.

"Hamilton!"

"Sorry, sir..."

* * *

 

(10:32) omelettedufromage: OMFG U GOT CAUGHT BY OLD GEORGE?? literally dying of laughter here

(10:33) JLo: I'm glad you're having fun, Gilbert. –AH

(10:33) omelettedufromage: DON'T CALL ME GILBERT

(10:34) JLo: It is your name –AH

(10:37) JLo: what the hell Alex, I leave my room for FIVE MINUTES and you're already messaging people from my account??

(10:38) JLo: Hey, at least I wasn't pretending to be you! –AH

(10:40) JLo: Although, that sounds like fun... –AH

(10:42) JLo: don't. you. dare. Hamilton.

(10:44) JLo: ghnjkhjkjbvbnjmkjuhbhawjef

(10:45) omelettedufromage: ??

(10:47) JLo: he's trying to steal my laptoajslfhbuzgtasefhjklajhghdjnf

_User JLo changed their username to AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck_

(10:50) AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck: what the actual hell alexander

(10:52) AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck: Just being honest! ;) –AH

(10:53) AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck: i don't think so

(10:54) AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck: :'(( -AH

(10:56) AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck: you're definitely hotter than fuck ;)

(10:57) AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck: Awww –AH

(11:00) omelettedufromage: can u2 pls flirt somewhere else? my internet connection can't deal with that much gay

(11:01) AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck: Actually, neither of us is gay  –AH

(11:03) omelettedufromage: stop being a smartass hamilton

(11:05) omelettedufromage: also leave me be and go smooch ur bf or sth

_AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck is currently offline_

(11:08) omelettedufromage: thank

 

"Alex Hamilton is hot as fuck," John had to read it outloud to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. "Seriously, that was the best you could come up with? You should have seen the state of my laptop when I lent it to Mulligan once."

"What did he do?"

John made a face, "He changed my username and names of all the icons on my desktop to _ShreksLoverboy._ And my message notification to JOHN CENA."

"Great idea! I could try that the next time."

John gave him his deadliest gaze. "Alex."

Alex only shrugged and smiled innocently. He and John were seated comfortably on John's bed, side by side, their hands slightly touching. John's bed was a mess due to them wrestling for a bowl full of popcorn earlier that evening, but neither of them cared.

Alex yawned and rested his head on John's shoulder. "I'm kinda tired."

John looked at him with disbelief, "You? You're never tired."

"I know it's hard to believe, but I'm actually human and," Alex yawned again, "need some sleep once in a while." He wrapped his arms around John's waist and made a happy noise against his shoulder.

"Do I make for a good pillow?"

"The best," Alex murmured. "Wait... you're okay with this, right? Cuddling and stuff,  I mean."

"I'm okay with pretty much anything as long as everyone involved keeps their underwear on, so..."

"But if I ever do something you're uncomfortable with, you'll tell me, right?"

"Geez man, go to sleep. You ask too many questions when you're tired."

"You haven't answered me."

"Yes, I'll tell you. Now good night."

"Night," Alex whispered into John's ear, holding him tight and closing his eyes contently.

* * *

 

(10:15) Eleanor_Laurens: John? I'm going to get some groceries, is there something you want me to buy?

(10:19) AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck: no mom, but thanks for asking :)

(10:23) Eleanor_Laurens: Care to explain your username by the way?!?

(10:26) AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck: ehhhhh...

_AlexHamiltonIsHotAsFuck is currently offline_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this is it, folks! Thank you so much for all your support and lovely words, it truly means a lot to me <3 I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Not sure yet, but I might eventually write some more Hamilton fanfic because I LOVE this fandom, so... stay tuned? ;D  
> If any of you want to rant about Hamilton/Lams/ace stuff/anything else, my tumblr url is acelaurens, so feel free to hit me up :)  
> 


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